In order to reduce environmental burden by eliminating coating or plating and to apply a new design to an exterior component for various products including portable communication terminals, home electronics and vehicles, it has been known to produce molded article applied with a new design through a decorative molding process (e.g. water pressure transfer, film insert molding, and in-mold molding).
Examples of the known molding process for producing such a molded article include an insert molding using a molded product of a printed polypropylene sheet (see, for instance, Patent Literatures 1 to 3).
Patent Literature 1 discloses a process, in which a pattern layer is formed on a side of a polypropylene film using vacuum molding and the like, the obtained molding is set in a die, and a desired molded article is produced using an injection molding.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a process, in which a molding including an image layer between a polypropylene sheet and a polyolefin sheet is set in a die, and a resin is injected to be integrated with the molding to provide a molded article.
Patent Literature 3 discloses an insert molding of a laminate including a polypropylene sheet, and an easy-adhesion layer of acryl polyol resin that is printed thereon.